Doors to Diplomacy

The Department of State sponsors the "Doors to Diplomacy" educational challenge—an award competition conducted with Global SchoolNet, a foundation that offers educational internet based learning projects. Doors to Diplomacy challenges Middle School and High School Students in the U.S. and abroad to create a website that teaches the importance of international affairs and diplomacy.

One American team and one international team will be selected for the first place prize. Each student on the two winning teams receives a $2,000 scholarship. In addition, their coaches — usually teachers — receive $500 cash for their schools.

In addition to raising awareness about international affairs, Doors to Diplomacy is designed to teach students communication and collaboration skills and use technology to benefit humanity. Judges look for informative content over interactivity and flashy design. The real emphasis of the contest is on the quality of learning and understanding of diplomacy and international cooperation.

Subject matter cuts across national borders, with categories such as “Health and the Environment” and “International Security.” Both of 2008’s winning teams chose topics in the “Health and the Environment” category.

The American winners came from Plantation High School in Plantation, Florida. Their website, Pier2Pier: Helping Wild Dolphins and Manatees, raises “awareness among youth of threats to dolphins, manatees and the marine environment throughout Florida.”

The international winners, from the Joan Ekzarh Language School in Vratsa, Bulgaria, competed against 190 other teams from 38 countries. Their website, Fight Against Radiation To Have a Good Wind, “made people think about what nuclear energy does to the environment and if it could be replaced with an alternative energy source.”

The teams often have to overcome challenges to complete the project. For U.S. team members, finding the time for another extracurricular activity is the problem. For international team members, such as last year’s winners from Bulgaria, infrastructure was a major obstacle: one computer between the 4 team members and no car. Despite that, the Bulgarian team still visited a nuclear power plant, conducted a community survey and created their website to win first prize.

Language can be another obstacle to overcome, as all international entries must be in English. About half of the Doors to Diplomacy entries are from international students, a percentage that has increased over the years. In addition to Bulgaria, international winners have come from India, Macedonia, Mexico, Taiwan and Uzbekistan.

Each Doors to Diplomacy team is required to evaluate entries from four other teams. The students and educational professionals do the preliminary judging, and final selections are made by the State Department.

For a complete description and information about eligibility and judging criteria, visit http://globalschoolnet.org/gsndoors/.

For more information, contact:
Dr. Yvonne Marie Andres
Global SchoolNet
Telephone: 760-635-0001
E-mail: diplomacy@globalschoolnet.org

or

Janice Clark
U.S. Department of State
Telephone: 703-875-5086
E-mail: clarkje4@state.gov